Seeds, from 12 provenances covering most of the natural range
of C. paliurus in China, were collected from October to November,
2006. The detailed geographical and climatical information of the
12 provenances of C. paliurus used in the experiment is shown in
Table 1. After drying in open sunlight and removal of unwanted
materials, the seeds from each provenance were put into an open
plastic box in the laboratory until required. To overcome the dormancy
and achieve rapid, uniform and high germination rates,
seeds of each C. paliurus provenance were subjected to chemical
scarification, exogenous GA3 (gibberellin A3) treatments and stratification
treatments in early January, 2007, according to the method
proposed by Fang et al. (2006). After a 3 month stratification
treatment, the germinated seeds were sown in containers until
no germinated seeds were observed. The seedlings in the containers
were transplanted into the field in Zhenjiang nursery in early
June, 2007, and planting space was 40 40 cm.